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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23229928">Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forbidden_Kitten/pseuds/Forbidden_Kitten'>Forbidden_Kitten</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Bay Movies), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Romance, Cute, Cute Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, POV First Person, Reader-Insert, Romance, Short &amp; Sweet, Short One Shot, Sweet, no sex sorry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:21:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,376</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23229928</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forbidden_Kitten/pseuds/Forbidden_Kitten</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I was saved by a mysterious stranger<br/>In his heart I found my home</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Raphael (TMNT)/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It seemed like only yesterday that I had gotten off the subway to walk to my new job, head hung low. I was not a fan of the night shift, but I had no choice. I needed money for rent, and I needed a job for money. I worked for a engineering agency doing temp work, but the jobs had been getting fewer and farther away. To be honest, I had a feeling that this would be my last job for a while, and had no idea what I was going to do for money after the job ended, though I would cross that bridge when it came. I had been desperate enough to even start working the odd jobs with terrible hours. The current job I was going to was at a hospital, where I was to clean and recalibrate hospital equipment for patients. As important as the task was, there was another reason I wasn’t thrilled with this new opportunity. The hospital was situated in a rough part of Manhattan and I had heard stories about this weird gang known as the foot clan in the neighborhood. With that name, they sounded incredibly lame, but people feared them. Their crimes ranged from petty theft and assault to large-scale robberies. I did not want to become a victim, but what I wanted and what happened was two different things. I was mere blocks away from my destination, when I was stopped by six men in black outfits and weird masks. One of the men spoke. “Hey sweetheart. Where you going?”</p><p>I backed up. “Work.”<br/>
Another guy stepped forward. “Oh, youre working it alright. What do say we help you out?”<br/>
“No thank you”, I squeaked. “I am good. Can you please move?”</p><p>They chuckled and started towards me. I bolted and ran as fast as my feet could carry me, but it wasn’t fast enough. One of the men threw something that wrapped around my ankles, forcing me to tumble to the ground. “I hate it when they run. I’m going to make you pay for that.”<br/>
I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst, but instead of being attacked, I heard a commotion come from behind me. Frightened of what might have been happening, I stayed as low to the ground as possible. Then silence. I peered behind me and what lay before me was a surprise. All six of the men, knocked out cold on the ground. I didn’t hesitate to take advantage of this situation. I removed the item from my ankles and took off in a sprint towards the hospital. When I arrived, I was out of breath, so I composed myself and went toward my work center. The basement was dark and creepy. Double checking the directions I had, I ended up passing through a boiler room in order to get to my destination. The room was quiet, with not a sound to be heard besides the pipes in the boiler room. It was rather creepy, so I turned on my music and started testing the equipment.</p><p>Work was increasingly boring, so I took a break every hour, walking around to stretch my legs. Right around the 3rd hour, As I was leaning against the railing on my break in the boiler room, the lights went out. I figured it must have been some sort of timer that went off to save energy, so I walked back towards the light, but not without hearing what sounded like creaking from behind me. I turned slowly. “Hello?” I asked into the darkness, but there was no response. I strained my eyes and walked forward. There, hidden in the corner of the darkened room, was a large figure. I panicked, returned to my workspace and picked up a piece of equipment of the table. “Who are you?” Again, the figure said nothing. “Don’t come any closer!” I waved the object in my hand. “I’ll use this thing, I swear!” There came a low, rumbling chuckle from the darkness.</p><p>“Don’t worry...I ain’t gonna hurt ya’.” The voice chuckled again. “Even if I was, that puny thing wouldn’t do you much good.”<br/>
I lowered the equipment. “Not making me feel better.”<br/>
“Sorry. I’m not trying to scare ya’. I just wanted to see how you were doing after what happened tonight.”<br/>
“What are you talking about?” I narrowed my eyes.<br/>
“You know, you being attacked and all.”<br/>
I nearly dropped what I was holding when he said that. “How did you know about that?”<br/>
“Who do ya’ think saved you? By the way, what’s yer’ name? I’d love to just call ya’ ‘doll’, but that’s no way to treat a lady.”<br/>
“I’m [your name]. I guess I should thank you...um...what should I call you?”<br/>
“The name is Raphael.”<br/>
“Hi Raphael.” I put the item back on the table. “So, why are you here?<br/>
Raphael cracked his neck. “I told ya’ already. To make sure you were okay.”<br/>
“Seriously? Why am I so special?”<br/>
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I liked the way you looked. Yer’ not like the other humans I’ve rescued.”<br/>
“And what is that supposed to mean?” I crossed my arms.<br/>
“Nothing bad. I mean, the other women I come across are these girly, froo-froo chicks. Tiny girls that would blow over in a breeze. Not you though. Yer’ solid. I like a woman with curves.”<br/>
I felt embarrassed at the compliment. “Thanks, I guess.”<br/>
I saw Raphael sit down on the floor. “So”, he said, “are ya’ gonna tell me about yourself? I didn’t come all this way for awkward conversation.”<br/>
I shrugged. “Sure, why not? It’s better than sitting by myself.”</p><p>I started telling him all about my life: Where I was born, and how I came to move to New York. I didn’t get far along in the story when a crackle of a walkie talkie cut through the room. “Raphael, come in. Raphael, are you there?” The voice sounded worried. “Where are you?”</p><p>“Shit”, “Raphael muttered.<br/>
“Who was that?” I asked.<br/>
“My brother.” I could hear the annoyance in his voice. “I gotta go.”<br/>
I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad. “Will I see you again tomorrow?”<br/>
“Yeah. Sounds good.”</p><p>In a flash, the lights came back on and I was staring at an empty room. I shrugged; there was nothing to do but return to what I was previously doing.<br/>
As I walked to the hospital the next night, I was vigilant in watching out for foot clan activity, but there was none. As I started my work, I kept looking over my shoulder for the lights to go out and Raphael to appear. Around hour six, it seemed as though he wasn’t coming. I sighed. “Figures he wouldn’t show.”</p><p>“Who wouldn’t show”, came a familiar voice from behind me. I turned toward the boiler room, which had gone dark again. I couldn’t help but smile. I heard a chuckle. “What? Did you miss me?”<br/>
I shook the grin off my face. “No. I was just hoping to have someone to talk to.”<br/>
“Okay [your name]. Whatever you say. So, where were we yesterday? You were telling me about yourself.”<br/>
“I don’t think so Raphael. I want to know about you this time. You know, like your life as a superhero vigilante.”<br/>
Raphael laughed hard and hard. “Ha! Not much to tell. My brothers and I don’t like assholes who pick on others.”<br/>
I couldn’t help but feel grateful for Raphael and his brothers. Who knows what would’ve happened if they didn’t help people. “So, What do you and your brothers do when you aren’t saving people like me?”<br/>
“Nothin’ much. Were boring. I wanna hear more about you.”<br/>
“You sure you got time tonight?” I raised a brow in his direction.<br/>
“Sure babe.”</p><p>True to his word, Raphael stayed with me for the rest of my shift while I talked. When work was over, I washed up and turned in Raphael’s direction. “Same time tomorrow?”<br/>
“Yeah [your name]. I wouldn’t miss it.”</p><p>True to his word, Raphael came back night after night, for the next two weeks. We slowly got to know each other and I found myself becoming enamoured with him, elusive as he was. He still really didn’t say much about himself and I don’t know why Raphael remained in the shadows. I could only surmise that he didn’t want his identity to be known because of the amateur crime fighting that he did. As great as spending time with him was, I couldn’t help but be sad. The job was ending in a couple days, and even worse, I was getting close to being kicked out my apartment. With the jobs being so sparse, I was living paycheck to paycheck. And even with the current job, I would only have enough to cover rent until the end of the month. I came into work in a sad mood and by the time Raphael showed up, I was close to tears when I uttered a hello to him. He seemed to sense that something was wrong. “Hey [your name]. Are you okay? You seem down.”</p><p>I shrugged. “It’s nothing. I don’t want to be a bummer.”<br/>
“Aw come on. You can tell me.” I saw his figure sit down on the ground.<br/>
“Alright”, I put down the equipment I was working on, “but you asked for it.”</p><p>Told him all about my situation: My living situation, all of the odd jobs I’d been working to try and make ends meet, and how I was probably going to lose my apartment in a couple of weeks. After I was done, the air was filled with a tense silence.</p><p>“Wow.” Raphael sounded a bit down as well. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t imagine how that feels. I’d be devastated if I lost my home. I guess I’m lucky that I have a family that supports and takes care of each other. We will always have a place to live.”<br/>
I felt bad about being such a downer and decided to make a joke. “Maybe I should come live with you guys.” I giggled.<br/>
Suddenly, Raphael stood up. “No! No no no! No way.”<br/>
I was taken aback. It was an extreme reaction to such a small comment. “Excuse me?”<br/>
“Listen, you can NOT live with us.”<br/>
“Oh really? And why is that Raphael?” I was joking before, but now I was offended.<br/>
“You...you wouldn’t fit in there.”<br/>
I got a bit upset. “Oh of course I wouldn’t. You and your perfect family wouldn’t have the time to waste on a loser like me huh? Makes me wonder why you even bothered to spend time with me in the first place. Bored of being a superhero with a great life?”<br/>
“That’s not it.”<br/>
“Then what is it Raphael?”<br/>
Raphael sighed. “You’d never understand even if I told you the truth.”<br/>
Now I was mad. “Fine. Then you should probably go since I’m too stupid to comprehend anything.” I knew that I was saying was hurtful, but I didn’t care. It’s not like I really expected him to let me into his home, but to have him treat me like some mongrel was beyond what I could take. I saw him still standing there. “You know what? On second thought, you can stay here as long as you want. I’m out of here.”</p><p>I gathered my things and left him standing in the dark and when I got home, I was drained and just went to sleep. In the morning, I had decided that my last three days of work didn’t matter; I was going to lose my place eventually. And with Raphael gone, there was nothing left to motivate me to try and keep going. It was time to go back to [home state] and move back in with my family. It wasn’t what I imagined my life would be, but I was done fighting the inevitable. Over the next ten days I either sold or donated what few possessions I had. This left me with enough money for a train ticket home and a little extra to start my new life. I looked around my bedroom one last time and at what remained of my old life, packed into two suitcases. I shut off the bedroom light and found myself in darkness, which was odd since I know I left the kitchen light on. “Hello?”</p><p>After a few moments, a voice broke the silence. “Hey.”<br/>
I knew the voice. “Raphael? How did you get in here? And just how did you even know where I lived?”<br/>
“Well, after ya’ left, it didn’t take me long to figure out that I’d screwed up. So I followed ya’ home. I’ve been checking on you every night to make sure you were okay. As for how I got in here tonight, well, you should really lock your door.”<br/>
I cursed my stupidity under my breath. “What do you want?”<br/>
“I want to show ya’ who I am, but I...don’t know if I should.” He sighed a big sigh.<br/>
“Why?”<br/>
“I like ya’. I don’t want to ruin what I have. You don’t know what yer getting into.”<br/>
“Show me”, I said, voice urgent.</p><p>I heard him move towards me as the lights flickered on with a soft ‘whir’. As my eyes adjusted, I was finally able to see the person to whom I had been pouring out my heart. Towering above me was what appeared to be giant turtle-man hybrid. He was wearing black shorts and donned red mask over his eyes. He looked at me with unease. “Well?” He asked me, but I didn’t know what to say. All I knew was that I cared for him. Raphael took my silence as rejection. He turned to leave and I grabbed his arm, spinning him around to face me.<br/>
“Wait Raphael.” I cupped his face in my hands, and he leaned forward towards me. I caressed his cheeks. “You hold my heart, no matter who you are.” I gave him a gentle peck.</p><p>A smile came across his face, highlighting a cute scar one his upper lip.<br/>
“Come on [y/n]. Let’s go home.”</p>
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